Paige Sheppard concluded one of the greatest seasons in New Jersey history by placing eighth in the women's 800-meter run on Saturday night at the World Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The Stanford-bound Sheppard, a rising senior at Union Catholic, finished with a time of 2:06.94.
The youngest runner in the field, Sheppard, who won't turn 17 until October 24, qualified for the final by winning her semifinal heat on Friday night in 2:01.97, the fastest time of all the rounds combined.
Sheppard had a season for the ages.
She was the class of the country all season in the 800, highlighted by her U.S. No. 1 2:00.65 at the Brooks PR Invitational in June, which is No. 7 in U.S. history. Sheppard qualified for the World U-20 Championships by winning the 800 at the U.S. Under-20 Championships in June, which was her third national title, and last month she finished ahead of several pros when she advanced to the final in the 800 at the U.S. National Championships to become the first NJ high school athlete to make a final at the U.S. national meet since Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of UC finished third in 2016 to make the U.S. Olympic Team as a 16 year-old.
Sheppard also broke the NJ record in the 1,600 this season when she dropped a 4:28.77, the second fastest time in the nation this season. That gave Sheppard a total of five NJ records (Indoors-800m-2:02.35.1600m-4:35.7 / Outdoors-1,500m-4:16.90, 1,600m-4:28.77. Mile-4:33.67).
MORE NJ RESULTS
Rowan's David Brown, who won the Division 3 national title in the high jump as a freshman this past season, cleared an outdoor PR of 7-1.50 on his final attempt to place ninth. Brown, who is competing for Jamaica, is a 2025 graduate of Edison High.
Natalie Dumas and Seannah Parsons both came up short on Saturday in their bids to advance to the finals.
The University of Arkansas-bound Dumas, who recently graduated from Eastern High, had some misfortune when she fell over the 8th barrier and wound up finishing 9th in her semifinal heat of the 400 hurdles in 1:11.76. Dumas won the 400 hurdles at the U.S Under-20 Championships in June and owns a PR of 55.99.
Dumas, who earned a gold medal for running in the semifinals on the U.S. mixed 4x400 relay that won the gold, finished her legendary high school career with a NJ record-tying 8 national titles, 2 outdoor state records - the 400 (51.14) and the 800 (2:00.11), and she won a NJ record-tying 8 outdoor M of C titles. She also won 3 indoor M of C titles for an overall total of 11, tied for No. 2 in NJ history!
Parsons who recently graduated from Randolph High and is headed to the University of Texas, competed in the women's triple jump for Trindad and Tobago. Parsons, who won the triple jump at the 2026 Indoor Meet of Champions before soaring NJ No. 2 all-time ring 43-0½ to win the triple jump in the Under-20 Division at the CARIFTA Games in April, finished 12th in Group B in the opening round with a mark of 12.68 meters.
